After School

Hip-hop, B-boying, popping, you name the dance form, this 15-year-old can execute them at ease. Give him a dance floor, and Prateek would simply go berserk.

“I love western dance forms such as hip hop and B-boying. Salsa too is on my list of favourites. It’s been a year now since I enrolled at the Beat Blaster Dance Academy in Tarun Nagar. I have taken part in a number of competitions in the city and bagged prizes as well,” says Prateek.

The bespectacled boy has not only taken up a disc-jockeying course but also featured as a DJ.

“Over the past two years, I have been grooming my skills under DJ Marun at Page 3 DJ Academy on AT Road. I have picked up the nuances of mixing, pitching and cueing. Now, I am known in my circle as DJ Cruz, having already featured in a couple of parties and Durga Puja and Kali Puja functions. My aim in life is to establish myself as a disc jockey,” Prateek, who also has choreography as a career in mind, says.

Asked about his inspiration, he says, “Reality shows such as Jhalak Dikhla Jaa and Dance India Dance inspired me to take up dance. King of Pop Michael Jackson is my role model. I also adore dancer-choreographer Remo D’Souza”.

Prateek has had a stint with cricket as well.

“He had trained at Maligaon cricket stadium till Class V. After that he stopped training, as he had to devote more time to his studies. Over the past couple of years, we noticed his interest in dance and put him in an academy,” his father Tarun Kumar Biswal, a resident of Bhootnath, says.

The Class IX student is also interested in art and acting.

“I love pencil shading and am also interested in acting. In fact, dance and acting are inter-related as you have to act and express yourself while dancing,” he adds.

SAURAV BORA

HELLO DOCTOR

Measles, a contagious viral illness which is a leading cause of death, is more likely to be contracted by poorly nourished children, particularly those with Vitamin A deficiency, or with a poor immune system owing to HIV/AIDS or other diseases. Adults, too, can contract the disease.

While any non-immune person (one who has not been vaccinated or developed immunity) can become infected with measles, the highest risk of contracting the disease is among unvaccinated young children in developing countries. However, people who have recovered from measles are immune for the rest of their lives.

Dr Prasanta Kumar Bhattacharya, head of department of medicine, Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, sheds light on measles, its causes and treatment

Cause

The virus is spread by coughing and sneezing, close contact or direct contact with nasal or throat secretions from infected persons.
The virus remains active and contagious in the air or on infected surfaces for up to two hours.

Symptoms

Measles develops after about one to two weeks of exposure to the virus and has symptoms similar to other viral infections such as fever, body ache, dry cough, running nose, red watery eyes and the appearance of rash.

The rash usually appears three to five days after the first signs of being sick and may last for four to seven days.
It first appears along the hairline behind the ears and then spreads down to cover the face and neck.

Over the next three to four days, the rash spreads to other parts of the body.
Along with the rash, tiny white spots about the size of a pin-head appear inside the mouth.

These are called the Koplik’s spots. People who contract measles can transmit the disease from four days before the rash becomes visible to four days after the rash appears.

The serious complications
include encephalitis (a viral infection of the brain), ear infections and consequent deafness, severe respiratory infections such as pneumonia or
severe diarrhoea leading to dehydration.

Treatment

There is no specific treatment for measles. People who contract measles should be given bed rest, fluids and medicine to control fever, along with specific treatment of the complications.
Children infected by the measles virus should receive two doses of Vitamin A supplements.
Measles vaccination in children, as a part of immunisation programme, is effective and essential in preventing measles and measles-related deaths.
It is safe, effective and inexpensive and is given free of cost in government hospitals and clinics.